I haven't had to tangle with I-70 traffic yet this year on the way to the mountains, but i've also been going up at night and staying up in Summit. Are we in gridlock mode yet or can you still leisurely head up at say 9:00 from Denver and get to Summit by about 10:00?

the traffic has been mild, but id say thats primarily due to the lack of snow. its really pretty dismal at all resorts along i-70...i was at keystone the other day and the coverage is laughable. even on river run there are plenty of doodoo brown spots. la nina is sure taking her time

The last few weeks, since the snow stopped, a positive phase Arctic Oscillation occurred that is approximate to the record for the last 60 observed years. The polar vortex, the pool of low pressure atop the globe, has literally sucked the northern storm track away from the lower 48. For the central rockies, potent low pressure in the polar vortex trumps typical La Nina jet stream patterns and turns our wet pinapple express into a dry alberta clipper that steers around us. We need the storm track to migrate south and displace the blocking ridge established in the east pacific. Unfortunate us, this trend does not yet show signs of significant weakening and the current prediction from NOAA is that the AO positive signal will reamplify back to near record levels over the next two weeks before returning to neutral or negative trend. If this forecast is correct, we can expect the current high and dry to continue into January because there is usually a 1-2 week lag from signal change to results in the lower 48. We'll get some modest snowfall here and there but the probability for a big multi-day system to fill things in is low until the AO flips negative and holds there for a week. Prolonged snowy weather in the mid-latitudes of north america correlates strongly with negative AO phase. If you got holiday plans for the Tetons (central rockies, in general), you might want to reconsider or, at least, leave your new skis/boards at home. Sure hope this is wrong, but it is hard to ignore the effects of such an anomalous factor like an AO positive phase 60 year event."

i left beaver creek around 3pm last saturday and the sign right by copper said 20 minutes to the tunnel, and 3 hours to denver. so while i only went as far as frisco, this leads me to believe the season's bad traffic has begun

"Cynicism and ill-humored opinion have built a stronghold called the message board. Sweet mother of God, see a f***ing shrink, people." --Corey Taylor

I guess I should have bought the raffle tickets instead, eh Carl?My shirt's not being worn, either.

BTW, Wolf Creek was spectacular today (Thursday). We enjoyed freshies occasionally wind-blown up to waist deep until the lift stopped. The Knife Ridge has surprisingly poor coverage, but the rest of the place has got the goods.If you're gonna spend long hours in a car, why do it on I-70 when the rewards are just crappy conditions and crowds?

We are all greater artists than we realize -FWNA man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. -HDTPeak List